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Ziedonian Military
The armed forces of Ziedonia is comprised of the Army, Navy and Air Force, and is tasked with defending the Ziedonian homeland. History The military history of Ziedonia dates back to the 1600's, when different ruling parties of the Ziedonian aristocracy fought over who should control the nation following the death of the nation's last king. It was a loose coalition of families to the north that combined their forces to take the rest of the country by force, and in doing so created the first professional army in the history of Ziedonia. Before the creation of a dedicated army by this coalition, the Kingdom of Ziedonia would simply rely on the age-old tactic of only raising armies when the need presented itself, the forgoing of this process allowed the new Ziedonia to better protect itself from external threats. By 1700, the military was one of the strongest in the world, with large numbers of troops prepared to defend the border at a moments notice. A focus on modernizing equipment was prioritized, and every soldier was expected to operate independently of an officer if the need arose. At the same time, the Ziedonian navy was being built up as well, new surface ships were rolled out every year, and Ziedonia quickly became a naval power along the southern coasts of Archao. In 1783, when the combat potential of aircraft was realized during an unrecognized border skirmish between Sinovia and the United Federation after the United Federal Air Force caused massive losses of Sinovian ground forces, the Ziedonian government put immense amounts of money into the development of its own air force, shortly thereafter Ziedonian pilots began testing with their own domestically produced planes. The Ziedonian military has participated in both of the Archan Continental Wars, taking victory in both conflicts, in both cases with minimal loss of life when compared to the other combatants. Command Structure The command structure of the Ziedonian military is split up into several areas The National Security Council The National Security Council is a select group of analysts who are tasked with informing the Chancellor of potential threats and courses of action, they report only to the Chancellor himself, and do not have any direct control over the military. The Chancellor The Chancellor is the elected leader of Ziedonia, he is the Commander in Chief of the entire military, and can commit troops to a conflict if he so pleases, the only group of people that are comparative to the Chancellor in control is the National Security Council, who inform him of events around the world. Unified Command The Unified Command is a group of high ranking leaders from all three branches of the Ziedonian Armed Forces who are tasked with actually carrying out the orders of the Chancellor, they draw up the operations for the military to undertake. Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff is comprised of the highest ranking members of each branch and are tasked with overseeing the Unified Command, and serve in an advisory role, ensuring that the right orders have been given. They do not directly report to the Chancellor, but can do so in the event that the Unified Command disobeys orders. Military Departments The Military Departments, that being the individual offices of the Army, Navy and Air Force are tasked with training and equipping soldiers, sailors and airmen. Personnel Army Enlisted Commissioned Navy Enlisted Commissioned Air Force Enlisted Commissioned Equipment Weaponry Infantry Weapons (1650-1750) The M1650 Revolving Infantry Rifle was used by several of the different factions vying for power after the collapse of the monarchy, the rifle was extremely popular due to it's extremely high rate of fire when compared to other rifles at the time and ease of loading. The 7.92mm cartridge the rifle was chambered in was revolutionary at the time, as paper cartridges were commonplace, its muzzle velocity and effective range made it a favorite of sharpshooters. The Infantry Rifle M1705 was created out of a need by the Ziedonian Military for a more accurate infantry rifle with a faster rate of fire to replace the now fifty-five year old M1650. Much more advanced rifling allowed for more accurate shooting at a double the range of the M1650, the addition of a detachable magazine made reloading much quicker. While it was proposed to chamber the rifle in an experimental 6.5mm cartridge, the notion was shot down in favor of the 7.92mm Standard due to the mass amount of surplus cartridges. As the use of motor vehicles became more mainstream, the military saw the need for a shorter and lighter rifle for use by vehicle crews if they were forced to engage in combat with the enemy. The resulting cavalry carbine is a shortened M1705, with most of the metal exterior plating removed, an internal magazine and a shorter, more simplified bolt action system. Standard doctrine dictates that each military vehicle has at least two rifles, and Ziedonian Cavalrymen took no time in praising the design. In 1708, two Ziedonian Border Patrol Officers were killed in a firefight with Sinovian gangsters when their M1705 rifles ran out of ammunition. As a result development began on a simple, cheap and sturdy revolving handgun to serve as a backup if problems arise with a soldiers service weapon. A year later the M1709 entered service, the simple and easily manufactured design served its purpose well, and soldiers reported enjoying having another line of defense. After the production of the M1709, firearm production in Ziedonia slowed down, as the weapons currently in production suited the needs of the military. Until the 1800's, the only new firearms created were updated variants of existing platforms. Infantry Weapons (Continental Wars) Following an 1845 training exercise with the United Federation, the Ziedonian military realized that the updated M1705 rifles its soldiers fielded were inefficient when facing off against the semi-automatic rifles used by UF forces. As a result a research project was started using a handful of UF rifles stolen after the joint training exercise, and after five years the M1850 entered production. The design was shorter than the M1705, had a larger capacity and was, obviously, semi-automatic. The magazine was fixed, however the sixteen round en-bloc clip allowed for rapid reloading, while adapting the 7.92mm Standard cartridge was considered, the military decided to choose the 6mm Telescoped cartridge, as the smaller round allowed for less recoil and faster follow up shots. After its introduction, the M1850 quickly phased out the M1705 as the standard issue infantry rifle, however the much older bolt-action rifle still saw service in Home Guard and ceremonial regiments. After the M1850 entered service, complaints from Ziedonian soldiers about the loss of stopping power in the rifles 6mm cartridge caused the military to seek development of a rifle chambered in a larger caliber. While using the 7.92mm Standard was considered, the selected cartridge was the newly introduced 7.32x50mm Standard, while it was smaller, there was less recoil and the ballistics of the two rounds were similar. The M1853 was integrated into the military quickly and it's considerably longer effective range made it useful as a marksman rifle. As the rest of the Ziedonian military received updated firearms, cavalrymen requested a more efficient weapon than the bolt-action M1706, the resulting M1853 Carbine featured a semi-automatic design and a much smaller cartridge, allowing for more accurate shooting and less recoil. The short carbine was perfectly sized to be stowed away in armored vehicles and was to be used if the crew had to abandon themt. Another use for the carbine presented itself after its adoption, and Ziedonian paratroopers were primarialy equipped with the M1853 due to its light weight. While shotguns had been in use by the Ziedonian military since its conception, there was never a standard design until the debut of the M1864. The reasons for doing so were primarily to prevent individual soldiers from using their own shotguns, so the quality of firearms being used by the military could be standardized. The shotgun was sent to squadrons in very limited numbers, the M1854 saw most of its use with special forces units, tank crews and pilots were equipped with the shotgun was well in the event they had to abandon their vehicles. While the semi-automatic rifle was not standardized by Ziedonia, the automatic weapon was. A group of federally funded researchers were able to modify the semi-automatic system featured in other Ziedonian weapons into a fully-automatic system. The first combat ready prototype was the M1854 Submachine Gun, the high fire rate and small cartridge made the firearm well suited to close quarters engagements, and found its way primarily into the hands of infantrymen, although the weapon was also used by paratroopers due to its light weight. Hand grenades had been in use by the Ziedonian military for several decades, however the concept of launching them via a rifle hadn't been considered until the 1850's. The launcher is comprised of a cut down M1706 Calvary Carbine with a tube affixed to the barrel designed to fit the TRH-40 and DIM-40 high explosive and smoke grenades. The standard doctrine for the launcher is that two weapons are attached to one platoon, and may be used by any qualified rifleman, the primary use for the launcher is suppression of enemy forces using the high explosive grenade, whereas the smoke grenade is used to provide a shroud for an advance or retreat. After the creation of the M1854 Submachine Gun, the Ziedonian military saw the need for a firearm using a similar automatic fire system, but chambered in a much larger caliber. After the creation of several prototypes, the M1858 was selected. The weapon's high rate of fire, full-powered 7.92mm cartridge, general reliability and outstanding firepower made it a favorite of Ziedonian soldiers.